US commits to landing an international astronaut on the Moon - This decade::This ticket to the Moon will probably go to a European or Japanese astronaut.

    • @You999@sh.itjust.works
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      86 months ago

      Because landing on the moon is an excellent test bed for future scientific and commercial endeavors. But why an international person? Space travel requires support from the international community and an easy way to drum up support without being billed for it is to offer a spot on the mission and all of the prestige that comes with it.

      • @the_q@lemmy.world
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        -86 months ago

        This planet is on fire. Going to the moon right now makes no sense. Solve the world’s problems first before you set out to create the same problems somewhere else.

    • @uid0gid0@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      We chose to land an International Astronaut on the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

      • @chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        36 months ago

        My favorite part of the speech is the reference to Rice playing Texas.

        Since the beginning of the Apollo program, more people have traveled to the moon than Rice football players who started a winning game against Texas.

      • @the_q@lemmy.world
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        26 months ago

        You think going to the moon will boost morale better then something like fixing corruption or starting ubi or making sure everyone has food and shelter?

        • @galloog1@lemmy.world
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          86 months ago

          Unironically yes, I do believe that. Space exploration is a worthy endeavor in and of itself and takes up a fraction of the budget.

            • @galloog1@lemmy.world
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              36 months ago

              Do you disagree concerning what would motivate you or the average person in the world? I’m answering based on the latter.

    • Brownian Motion
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      16 months ago

      I might be cynical, but if the Apollo missions are anything to go by, sacrificing many “international astronauts” in testing to finally get one successfully up there, is better than losing american’s?

      But hey, I’m only watching from “The Dish” over here in Oz.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    26 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Earlier this year, NASA named a Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen, to the Artemis II crew training to fly around the far side of the Moon, a mission that will likely launch sometime in 2025.

    On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced an international astronaut will land on the Moon during one of NASA’s Artemis missions.

    The inclusion of foreign astronauts on US missions also repays partner nations who make financial commitments to US-led space projects with a high-profile flight opportunity for one of their citizens.

    NASA managers dole out crew assignments on the International Space Station based on each partner’s financial contribution to the operating costs of the US-led segment of the complex.

    ESA funded the development of the service modules used on NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which will ferry astronauts from Earth to the Moon and back.

    Canada is building a robotic arm for Gateway, but a Canadian astronaut already has a seat on NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, albeit without a trip to the lunar surface.


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